The towel had slipped down Cody’s back, revealing a length of pale ivory skin. If this had been any other time,
Squib would have been in heaven. As it was, the dark bruises that adorned her back sent him to hell and back. Biting his lip
in an effort not to ask what happened, because he knew that would only get her angry, he reached down to pull the edge of
the towel back up, moving slowly, so as not to disturb a peacefully resting Cody. Apparently he wasn’t slow enough,
because the moment the cloth began to slide up her back, Cody’s head shot up and her cheeks almost immediately began
to colour various shades of cherry red. Swiftly gathering up the towel in her hands, she flung herself backwards across the
room, until her back hit the wall. Chest damp, Squib scrabbled to his feet, rubbing the back of his neck uncomfortably.

“Uhh...heh...I ummm....” Cody sputtered, apparently at a loss for words. Her cheeks flamed and she found
it rather hard to make eye contact with the boy standing beside her bed. She was wrapped in nothing but a towel, she was wet
and she was alone in her bedroom with the boy she had had a crush on since she met him. And all she could do was cringe and
desperately try and conceal as much of herself as possible.“I’m uh...I’ll just uh...I’m gonna
go.” He finally decided on the words. Cody’s floor was nice. Hardwood. Looked like pine. Very worn. But nice.
Architecturally sound. His neck had begun to turn red and it stung where he was rubbing it vigorously in an attempt not to
blush.

“Yes! Ya, good. Umm right...so I’ll uh...see you later.” Cody wondered if she sounded a little
too eager to get him out of her bedroom. Then again, how was she supposed to sound?

“Ok, right. So..uhhh...bye.” Mentally kicking himself for getting them into that situation in the first
place, Squib made a hasty exit, practically jumping down the stairs. Only once he was outside on her porch and away from her
searching eyes, did Squib stop to run both his hands through his hair and turn his head to the sky, sighing loudly. He had
just been alone with Cody. In nothing but a towel. In her bedroom. This was the sort of thing that he fantasized about. But
right now, the only image that fluttered before his stunned eyes was that of the black, blue and purple ty-die of Cody’s
back.

He had seen them. She was positive. Sighing loudly, Cody flopped backwards onto her bed and let her feet dangle over
the side. She was gonna have to tell him now. There was no getting around it. The only question was how? How was she supposed
to tell the boy that she cared about that she had been...you know. She couldn’t even say the word. She had been denying
this for weeks. Suddenly, it became increasingly hard to draw air into her lungs. Sitting up, she bent over and coughed air
into her lungs. Oh god, she was having a panic attack. She couldn’t do this. No, no, no. There was no way. Haphazardly
tossing on a baggy sweatshirt and the first pair of clean pants she found, Cody jogged down the stairs, stopping but a moment
in the kitchen to grab a box of brownies, before settling back into her couch and brand new episodes of Dr.Phil and Oprah.

“Sweetheart, you’re going to be late for class.” Cody’s father prodded gently, but his daughter’s
stare did not remove itself from the tv screen.

“I’m sick.” she mumbled shortly, pulling a wool blanket up to her chin. Hartley Myers sighed. As
a therapist, he understood what Cody was going through must be devestating. As a father, he just wanted his daughter back.
He had thought she was finally beginning to return to normal. But over the past few days, ever since her fall out with Adena,
she had been falling rapidly into old patterns. Now, he couldn’t for the life of him get her to set foot outside the
living room, let alone walk all the way across the campus to school.

“Well, ok. I’ve got to go, but there’s soup in the fridge. I’ll see you when I get home,
ok?” he waited, expecting a response, but getting only a dismissive wave from Cody. He almost snapped at her snarky
attitude, but he held himself in check. Forcing Cody to try to heal wounds that were obviously not ready to be healed would
only make the scars more vivid. As he stepped off his front porch and into the early morning sun, Hartley Myers wished for
the hundredth time he knew who had done this to his daughter. Because then, he thought, clenching his teeth, then I could
kill him.

“Rick...Tanis...” Ms.Wiley ran over the attendance list quickly, “Has anyone seen Cody?”
when she was met with only silence, Ms.Wiley tsked her tongue, “What in the world is wrong with that girl? She hasn’t
been to class in days.” Slinking down in her chair, blond curls shielding her face, Adena frowned. At first, she had
been worried. Then she had been annoyed and even a little angry. Now? Now, she was back to being worried again. That’s
it, Squib decided firmly. Something was going on with Cody and he was going to find out what it was. Today.